It also found that the office of President of Fiji had only become vacant in December 2000 after Kamisese Mara resigned following the High Court ruling.

On 19 May 2000 civilian gunmen led by failed businessman George Speight stormed the Fijian Parliament and took Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his government hostage.

[10]: 128–129 [11]: 223 On 28 May a further breakdown of law and order saw Chief Justice Timoci Tuivaga and other judges advise RFMF commander Frank Bainimarama to take control on the basis of necessity.

[14] On 4 July 2000 Chandrika Prasad, a farmer, filed a case with the High Court at Lautoka claiming to have been adversely affected by the coup.

The doctrine of necessity invoked by Bainimarama as justification for his actions only permitted upholding the rule of law and the existing constitution, and could not be used to subvert them.

Applying an efficacy test, the court found that it had not, as a rival government was "ready and willing" to resume office should the constitution be upheld, and that the change had not been overwhelmingly accepted by the Fijian people.

[29][30] The following day he sacked Choudhary and reappointed Tevita Momoedonu, who had served briefly in the role following the coup, as prime minister.

[34][35] The dismissal, dissolution, and reappointment were subsequently unsuccessfully challenged by the Citizens Constitutional Forum in Yabaki v President of the Republic of the Fiji Islands.